Wise cuts funding for substitute teachers

Money is available for two training days per teacher.

Duval County Superintendent Joseph Wise has cut funding for substitutes, a move that is forcing principals to find creative ways to provide training opportunities for teachers.

Substitutes are generally used to cover classes for teachers who receive training during the school day. Last year, teachers spent the equivalent of 5.3 school days in training on average.

Wise has allocated schools enough funding this year to pay for substitutes to cover approximately two days of training per teacher. That leaves principals some difficult choices: Limit training, do it after school, cover classes using existing faculty or find other sources within the school's budget to pay for substitutes.

By reducing the number of school days teachers miss for training, Wise is expecting to save $4.2 million over the course of the school year.

He said teachers will still be able to get the professional development they need, but he hopes that more of it will happen while the teacher is in the classroom or during times already set aside for professional development.

Duval Teachers United President Terrie Brady said that although the union does not oppose the cost-cutting directive, she is concerned that it may affect teachers' ability to obtain training required by the district and the state. Asking teachers to train on weekends and evenings could require additional dollars in premium pay, she said.

"In a tight budget crunch year, the money is not there," Brady said.

While the state's budget deficit is the driving force behind the change, Wise said spending on substitutes needed to be reined in. The district outsources the recruiting and placing of substitutes to Kelly Educational Staffing. Last year, the firm was paid $14 million.

On average, teachers last year were absent 18 days and one in 10 classrooms had a substitute teacher every day. Substitutes are used for training days, sick days, personal leave and filling vacant teaching positions.

Wise said he is encouraging principals to use professional development time more efficiently and prioritize.

"I think this is going to be a good thing to have to go through, even though I know what I'm asking people to do is not easy," Wise said.

Wise is also seeking to cut costs by working with the union to create incentives for teachers to use less sick and personal leave, which accounts for 48 percent of all absences.

Brady said she is open to that idea, but doesn't want teachers pressured into working when they are entitled to days off because of sickness or other personal reasons.

The superintendent also continues to lay out other potential cuts to offset an estimated $18 million in state funding shortfall this year. Those include closing purchase orders that have remained unused for long periods of time, which would create an immediate $1.9 million in savings, and not filling vacant central office positions, which would save $1.1 million over the academic year.

These are decisions Wise can make without getting approval of the School Board.

The Legislature is meeting in special session later this month to decide on official deficit numbers and determine how much school funding will actually be decreased. Depending on what comes out of the special session, the cuts Wise has in place may either be relaxed or deepened.

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Principal Jackie Cornelius is also the district's new executive director of integrated arts, meaning she is supervising arts education at all schools and working to improve the quality of the arts magnet schools.

The superintendent's directive on substitutes is so new, Cornelius has had time only to brainstorm about how it will impact her work. She has already decided to eliminate some of the workshops she planned for magnet school teachers.

Another option is to get more of the professional development activities underwritten by grants or other organizations, even school PTAs.

Cornelius said she is optimistic that she can heed Wise's directive and still get arts teachers the training they need.

"My feeling has always been one way or the other we'll make it happen," she said.